Sony has officially announced today that it is discontinuing Walkman. Don't worry, we're not talking about players in general - only those classic cassette players that started it all will be discontinued. Yes, they are still in production.
There are still billions of audio cassettes in the world. Many people around the world still have large music libraries on this definitively obsolete type of media. In many cities (especially provincial ones) you can still buy music that is recorded on cassettes. So given this small but fairly stable market Sony and continued to release her classics.
But everything in the world has a deadline. And cassettes tend to wear out, so even the most staunch fans of this medium are gradually moving to more modern solutions. So, after more than 30 years of continuous production, the cassette Walkman, once considered a high-tech device, finally goes to a well-deserved rest. During this time, Sony managed to sell about 400 million players around the world. It is possible that today the figure does not seem too impressive against the background of such a long time, but remember that in 1979 a cassette player was still a kind of luxury.
